to end it all is a heavy fate
Regulus (or perhaps Skull) wakes up to Yuni leaning over him anxiously, Flame drenching the atmosphere, gently washing over his body. He flinches away from it instinctively, because Regulus had never liked being touched, and Skull is far too used to fire burning him.
She leans back, surprise lighting her eyes as she realises he’s awake and opens her mouth to call the others, but Skull shakes his head.
“Not yet, Yuni.” He croaks, voice thick from disuse and he wonders how long he’s been out, exactly. Not like the first time, when he couldn’t remember being Skull at all, it’s just that he wonders how long its been since his two sets of memories combined so suddenly that the stress of it all had knocked him out. His Sky (although something in him fights at that, something points out that he doesn’t necessarily know that there’s not another Sky he’s subconsciously bonded to, something pleads him to find them) bites her lower lip, and he smiles wanly.
“I’m fine, bambino.” He throws in the pet name for reassurance, that yes, he is Skull, and that this time he knows he is Skull. “I just need a minute.”
Yuni smiles at him, and he pauses before returning it. He needs to find out the current situation of Magical Britain, and indeed Magical everywhere else, but if it has already gone thirty-odd years without him, he’s sure it can go another week or two. He needs to readjust to the Arcobaleno, and find a way to quiet the voice that shouts what vermin they are. He needs balance.
Yuni glances towards the doorway eagerly, and Regulus sighs and nods. She grins, running from the room in excitement, calling “He’s awake!”
Instantly Fon is there, and then Lal, and then Colonello, although the two Rains are somewhat less eager than Yuni herself, and Verde trails behind them, yawning. She rushes back next to his bedside.
“The other two are out on missions.” She explains apologetically. He nods in understanding.
Colonello sneers at him, joking “You’ve been out for a week, Lackey. Can’t take a hit?”
Regulus freezes, and then sits up in the bed.
His pureblood upbringing doesn’t bother with pretending not to recognise the veiled threat for what it is. This Muggle is baiting him into blind anger by insulting his capabilities, which implies certain things about his bloodline. It’s a commonly-used tactic in the Wizarding political world, but unfortunately for the blond, he’s had training against specifically this kind of subtle attack. All he needs to do is channel Salazar himself, and deliver an undeniably open threat. This way, he doesn’t lose face, opening a duel on his own terms, and besides, at this point, if a duel was initiated, Regulus was expected to win anyway, due to his superior heritage.
He forces the blood in his veins to run icy and he straightens his spine into a rigid line, head lifting so that he can look at the dirty peasant down his nose.
“Insult me again, you filthy Muggle, and I’ll have your head mounted as the newest addition to my Aunt’s collection.” He hisses, eyes flashing violet as his Flame rises defensively inside of him. Colonello’s mouth is wide open in shock, and Regulus is somewhat mollified, but then he sees the look of anxiety on Yuni’s face and he feels... not good. He can’t rationalise the sinking disappointment in his heart, but he can compare it to Sirius’ hard grey eyes as he pointedly refused to acknowledge his speaking at all on the night of his Sorting into Slytherin.
He blinks.
It was... too easy.
No duel proposition in sight.
Colonello looked scandalised and, looking around, so did the others, although Fon was far more subtle with it, the dumbfounded expression hidden under a serene mask. Skull’s memories swim to the surface as Regulus glances at him, blurred years of pining and lust, and an internalised fear of rejection and a sense of wrong at loving a man. Regulus does not share this view. He’s always liked men, has always been open about liking men, and it’s never been a problem. Skull, however, must have been taught that it was wrong, and indeed a memory flashes before his eyes of someone being stoned, how brutal these Muggles are, before his eyes. He blinks, clearing his head, and ignores the open-mouthed sputtering of Colonello in favour of smoothly tracing the jawline of the World’s Strongest Storm with his eyes.
Even knowing about the Arcobaleno now what he does, he still thinks Reborn is the most attractive in the group, despite obvious personality issues, and wonders why exactly Skull fell for Fon so hard. Then again, Fon had been the kindest to him, by which he means Fon had not been a perpetrator, in any case.
He blinks, and picks at the loose fitting t-shirt he’s wearing, a deep purple, and grimaces. Muggle clothes are extremely odd, and he feels at once a stranger to their synthetic-ey feel, and as though they’re the most comfortable things in the world. He longs for a good pair of Monsieur Malkin’s robes, certainly.
He pulls the covers off himself and gingerly checks for injuries. Seeing none, he sweeps his legs onto the floor and steadily puts some weight on them. Everything seems fine, until he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and groans.
“By Morgana’s grave, I’d forgotten about the tattoo.” He cringes, brushing a thumb against the purple tear mark on his cheek. The very permanent purple tear mark on his cheek. He could glamour it, of course, but it had been too long for him to get rid of it completely. He fingers the piercings for a second, wincing at his poor choices. There was a chain from his lip to his ear, for Merlin’s sake!
“Great Salazar, if Sirius could see me now. A motorcycle, to boot.” He mutters, disgust pulling his lip into a sneer. He turns back to face the others.
“As I’m sure you’re all aware, I’ve recovered my childhood memories.” He stops and scans their faces; disregarding the shock, it does seem that they know at least that much. “As such, I have some long-awaited business to attend to. First of all, I wish to convey with upmost clarity that I will no longer be tolerating the sort of disrespect you have been affording he who you knew as Skull.”
He pauses again, makes sure he’s been heard and- perhaps more importantly- listened to.
“Good. Secondly, I’d rather be referred to by my christian name, and that would be Regulus.” This time he doesn’t wait for any sort of response. “Much appreciated.”
Fon swims into his view again, and momentarily he’s distracted by the curve of his collar bone as it disappears underneath his changshan. He realises he’s staring and blinks.
“Well then, Regulus.” Lal stresses, clucking her tongue. “You are staying here, right?”
Something in him screams in rage at the impudent offer to stay in this hovel, with these pests. Regulus shoves it into the deepest recesses of his mind, and tells it to pipe down and mind its own business.
They are Muggles, and the worst sort, too, but they’re interesting. Besides, Regulus is kind of invested in them now, what with staying with them for such a long time and all, and anyway it’s not like anyone’s ever going to find out.
Everyone thinks he’s dead.
He exhales shakily. “For the moment, yes.” He replies, watching cautiously for her reaction. He’s glad Viper isn’t here. The Mist has a tendency to project people’s thoughts onto a wall behind them, and Regulus does not want to imagine the looks on all their faces if they were to see what he’s been thinking these last few minutes.
“Should we give you some space, Sk- Regulus?” Yuni asks warily, eyes roaming his figure like a worried mother hen, and for Slytherin’s sake she’s just a child, she shouldn’t have to be worrying about these things. He smiles at her. It’s a little tighter than he means it to be.
“If you would, Miss Yuni.” He agrees, and one by one they all leave except Verde, who has stood silent for all of it. The scientist raises an eyebrow at him when he looks the man up and down in bewilderment, and then gives a heaving sigh and says the one sentence Skull would never have expected from the man who had always been so hellbent on experiments and so adamant in his dismissal of any mention of the fantastical or the miraculous.
“So you’re that missing Death Eater, then.”